Tuesday, September 10, 2013

I know, I know. Just last week I pledged to focus on AWI for a bit. Even ordered a bunch of Perry stuff from Architects of War that arrived with its usual amazing speed and quality.

Now here I am backing a Kickstarter project for the first time on Winter War figs! When I should be buying Fife and Drum stuff! Ach!

But, you may have seen Winter War games posted here before. Actual games! I have been pleased with my Finns and Russians from Battle Honours, but it never hurts to expand, does it? So when I saw these new sculpts from Baker Company, I jumped. Plus the whole stretch target thing is very intriguing. And a mini of Simo Häyhä to boot? I'm in!

You can see more here. If you are at all interested, please sign up. I want a T-26. :)

Friday, September 6, 2013

I love it when two areas of hobby interest intersect, in this case, the Indy 500 and aviation. I have posted before about the exploits of American Eddie Rickenbacker and Frenchman George Boillot, both pilots in WW1 and drivers at Indy. But what about WW2?

There are a few examples, but one I was reading about today concerns one Ray Crawford. Though his racing career is somewhat non-distinguished (with finishes of 23rd, 29th and 23rd in three Indy starts in the late 1950s), he is apparently the only WW2 fighter ace who also raced at Indy. He recorded six victories in P-38s over North Africa in 1943.

Crawford was so skilled as a fighter pilot that he was brought back to
the states as a test pilot. He and another pilot were taking turns
flying the jet powered Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star prototype near the
end of the war out of Burbank. On one of Crawford's turns he was ready
to go up when there was a mechanical problem that made him bring the
plane back so he lost his turn. After the problem was corrected the
other pilot took the plane up only to suffer an engine flameout and was
killed just after takeoff. The other pilot was Richard Bong who is
better known as America's leading fighter ace with (at least) 40
confirmed victories in the Pacific.

Crawford died in Los Angeles in 1996.

Race car drivers and fighter pilots. Both require a special kind of crazy!

Friday, August 30, 2013

While putting the finishing bits on my Saga forces (Saxons and Vikings - I really need to do the bases and take photos!), I placed an order for more minis. Yes, more.

I am making my first foray into plastics and decided to try the Perry AWI British. My erstwhile AWI opponent has done a box of these and says they are great. My main focus has been on the Americans, with some French, and I have just a handful of British. (Hey, that's been HIS side!) But it never hurts to have a small enemy force on hand, I suppose. I also ordered some French artillery, which I have none of.

Plus between Fife and Drum, and the new King's Mountain Miniatures, the AWI seems to be in a golden age at the moment. I should take advantage, and probably order some of those too!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

So I started looking at all of the in-progress projects on the bench last night, and quite frankly was horrified. Just on the partially painted miniatures front, I see:

Several planes for CY6 (some just need clear coat and magnets)

Some AWI British grenadiers that have been waiting forever to get finished

A handful of Vikings and Saxons to finish off the initial Saga bands

A WW2 British squad

A WW2 German squad

Some WWI British cavalry and French zouaves

An ACW Union regiment

Some Liberators 15mm figs

A couple of leagues for Pulp Alley (One Canadian mounties, the other some dastardly Russians)

A couple of Napoleonic naval ships

A few 1/4800 WW2 ships

Some small scale Colonial Vipers and Cylon Raiders for a CY6 variant

And that doesn't even count the 3 or 4 Indy cars in state of partial assembly, or the slot car project! Or the Hornet project, or ....

But lest all hope seem lost, I have managed to finish a few projects. Among them is this New France Settler's Cabin from 4Ground. These things are spectacular! I have since ordered a few more 4Ground products, and hope to post some more about them. Easy to assemble, no paint required, enough detail to be interesting but not fiddly. I think the wood material really captures the feel of the FIW period. (Oh, I didn't mention that project yet, did I? Ack!)

Monday, July 22, 2013

Sorry, I know I have only just come back to the blog, but already I need to take a side track. Today we had to say goodbye to our faithful little beagle, Abby. Or, Abby Dog, as the girls called her.

Knowing it was the right thing to do doesn't make it easier.

We adopted her from a shelter - Last Chance Rescue (sounds ominous, no?) - in May 2006. They told us she was three, but we suspect she was older. The vet estimated she is more like 13, maybe even 14.

She always was a quiet, timid dog. Never barked, unusual for a beagle. She was jumpy and would get scared a lot, but would also cozy up to us on the couch. She felt safe with us, I guess. We tried our best to give her a happier life and bring her out of her shell. She never played, but did love going for walks - and chasing rabbits. Darndest thing, for as odd as she was, when she would get on trail, it was like she was a real dog.

She hadn't been good for a long time, and had a history of urinary infections. She made a lot of messes, and was confined to quarters a lot. But she still seemed happy to get up and go out in the morning. We knew the end was coming, but I wanted a clear sign she was ready. Saturday, we got it. I went to let her out, and she had made a holy mess, and could hardly get up. Then she could hardly walk, and wouldn't eat. She sort of stumbled around all weekend and stared aimlessly. There was nothing there.

Sunday, she did get a small spark and broke into a bag of treats left on the floor, and ate the while bag. We didn't care. Then Sunday night the girls wanted her to sleep in their room, so we let her.

Then I made the call first thing Monday morning.

If you couldn't tell, that's Abby on the right, with her "cousin" Indy. OK, technically it's Independence since she was born on July 4, but since my sister is also a race fan, Indy works. Abby is wearing her Target Ganassi Racing scarf I bought her at the Speedway. :)

She wasn't very smart, and could be a pain, but she was our dumb, defective beagle, and we will miss her.

But yes, it is the weather that is partially responsible for my return. It's been so miserably hot and humid, it's best to just spend time inside. Kind of like winter. And what does one do then? Paint!

So after a few months hiatus, I actually sat down and worked on a few CY6 planes last night and earlier today. With any luck, I'll even take some photos soon.

So what's been going on since our last interaction? A few highlights:

1. Work. Especially in May, it got nutty.
2. Family stuff. Somehow May and June always get busy with family stuff. This year was no exception. Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays, graduations... only so much can get crammed into a weekend. Oh, and now my parents are selling their house.
3. Indy. Yup, went again, 33rd time. Awesome, as usual. Then actually went back with the family to Indianapolis a few weeks later for a weekend getaway.
4. Camping. Got the camper out for the first time in two years and took it on a long weekend. Amazingly, other than needing new valve stems for the tires, everything else still worked!
5. Gardening/yard. Always time consuming in spring and early summer.
6. Hobby stuff. OK, what you care about. Alas, not much. I set up the slot car track and ran a few cars around. Had a couple model rocket launches. Worked a small bit on some 1/25 Indy cars. But gaming wise, next to nothing. Well, that's not entirely true. I bought some minis in there that who knows when I will get to paint! Future posts shall deal with those.

Monday, March 18, 2013

So, while not as bad as grabbing the flat black instead of the clear coat (yes, I've done that too, I think everyone has - or will), I had another one of those moments of enlightenment this weekend that I painted something completely incorrectly. And no, I'm not showing photos. Yet.

First, I did something similar many years ago. I was painting 15 mm Arab camelry for some obscure reason. Got everything done, was ready for clear coat, then paused. I showed my painting buddy and said, "Camels don't have hooves, do they?" He just laughed. Crud. Back to the painting table.

I thought of that story this weekend while looking over my Dark Ages guys for Saga. Some have been painted in the last few weeks, some years ago. All shared a flaw that I never realized before: Shields don't have metal bands, they are leather!!! Oh, crap!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Like most gamers, I suffer from "toomanyperiodsitis." Symptoms include multiple periods represented on the table top (at the moment Vikings, Dark Age Scots, ACW Union infantry, ACW Confederate artillery and some Liberators Royalist, oh, and some 1/300 aircraft and 1/1200 Napoleonic ships), as well as frequent repetition of, "Oh, man, those are so coool!"

But believing things can always be worse (yes, things can ALWAYS be worse), I thought I would try to come up with ten periods I have an interest in, but have thus far resisted. I succeeded. In fact, I came up with 15:

Jacobites: As note previously, I'm of Scottish descent. I've been to the auld stomping grounds. I've visited the clan castle. I've walked the field at Culloden Moor. But oof, seems like a lot of painting for fairly minimal reward.

Scottish Wars of Independence: Robert the Bruce, William Wallace and all that. If the right range comes along, this will be verrrrry tempting indeed.

King Phillip's War: Heck, I'll even throw in the Seminole wars here. Some very nice looking minis out there. It's a different era for me. Fascinating back story. Not a ton of figures required. Maybe some day.

Egyptians or other chariot wars: I actually started at one point, in 10mm, but sold them. Honestly, I could never find a set of rules I liked. Still, it would look impressive.

Samurai: I actually have minimal interest in the history, but the plastic minis make it reasonably affordable, and Saga rules look like a good fit. But I have pretty much zero reference materials.

Pacific WW2: So far I'm sticking with the air war, but the island hopping campaigns do hold an appeal.

Mexican Revolution: I've actually always been fascinated by this. Pancho Villa and all that. This is one if someone came to me and offered to split it up, I'd probably be in.

French & Indian War: I have a lot of AWI, so I always wonder how different it would be. Then along comes Muskets & Tomahawks, making this an appealing skirmish period. I really may have to do this.

War of 1812: One of the few "local" wars. That alone is intriguing. But to do both sides? Nah.

Spanish American War: Another fascinating period. But like Jacobites, I don't know if there is enough "replayability" to justify the effort.

War of the Roses: Um, just cool. But it would be an undertaiking.

Romans: I don't have any. Never knew where to start. Still don't.

Darkest Africa/Zulus: Darkest Africa skirmish games always look so impressive. This probably wouldn't take much to push me over the edge.

Plains Wars: A visit to the Little Bighorn as a kid planted an interest that has never gone away. But it always looks tough to convert into a game to me.

Napoleonics: Yep, it's true. I don't have any. Some of the plastics have been tempting though.

Throw in some pulp gaming, and I'd have to live about another 100 years to get all this in!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

I got thinking (and my credit card statement reminded me) of just how many
orders for hobby materials I have made already in 2013. And I don't know, maybe
I'm lucky in this regard, but all distributors have come through with flying
colors. I hear many horror stories on TMP and elsewhere about bad experiences,
and really, I haven't had any. Here are a few recent highlights:

Black Tree Design: Two orders so far for some Saxons, Normans and
Vikings for Saga. The first had some backordered items. I merely placed another
order in the interim, and the backordered items were promptly shipped along
with. John courteously replied to me emails and service couldn't have been
better. I know they were super swamped with the big sale. (Isn't there always a
big sale at BTD?) A few years ago, I even received a phone call from John to
update me on the status of an order. I know some people have ongoing issues,
but BTD has always done good by me. Nice figs, too. Highly recommended.

Architects of War: Two orders so far, for Saga and supplement, and
misc support materials like shield transfers and banners and some Gripping
Beast Scots. The rules were a pre-order (out of stock) but as soon as they were
in, they shipped. Second order went out super fast. I had never ordered from
them before, but will not hesitate to do so again. Double thumbs up!

The Warstore: To be succinct, Neal rocks. I think he has super powers. I
think he knows what I want and has the package put together, so as soon as I
pay for it, it's shipped. I've made two orders there in 2013 for mostly
magazines and paint, but have ordered other things previously. Awesome, awesome
service.

Waterloo Miniatures: 1/1200 Napoleonic ships is a new
thing for me, but Rob at Waterloo has been great. He's exceptional at
emailing to make sure exactly what it is I want/need, and his Langton
stuff is well worth the wait. Another double thumbs up!

Scale Creep: Just placed an order this week
after receiving a prompt reply from Nick on a stock question. This was my
first time ordering there, but so far so good. Pretty sure the stuff I
ordered is on backorder, but it's nothing urgent and not holding me up.
Updates as events warrant.

The
same is mostly true for other areas of interest, like NPD for Mustang parts,
Mr. Beer and all of the Indy model suppliers, like Lance Sellers, Bill
Jorgensen and Indycals, among many others.

So
let's support those who support us!

EDIT: Just got an email from Mark at Scale Creep. He had all but one item in stock after all, and the order is on its way! Woot!

Monday, March 4, 2013

It's been a few weeks since I posted, but I assure you all has not been quiet. Just ask my credit card! I hope to have photos soon, but here's a brief recap of what I have been able to do, mostly in brief increments between life's issues.
1. Finished a unit of Saxon warriors for Saga. Huzzah! Well, almost. They need a clearcote and basing. I debated going with square bases like my old ones, or some circular wooden ones I found (but are thick and kind of pricey). In the end, I ordered some Renedra bases this morning, and will probably end up rebasing a bunch of old ones too.
2. Got reinspired for Liberators. With John Fletcher's announcement of the forthcoming Osprey Essential History on the South American Wars of Independence, and assurance he is still working on a war in the north sourcebook, I got these guys out again. I have nearly finished up some British Legion, and have started in on some Royalists. Still long-term, but progress!
3. ACW. Yes, I even started painting some ACW guys that have been languishing. Wheat's Tigers, to be specific. What I still really need is some terrain. I am also pretty seriously tempted by Regimental Fire & Fury, but I don't know about basing all my guys again.
4. CY6 - been fairly quiet here, but there are a few things on the desktop!
5. Napoleonic ships - still plugging away slowly here. Rigging a brig and Constitution. I'd love to get a game in this spring yet.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

While I have been pretty negligent over the cold winter months doing anything with the Mustang, my body guy has been busy. As you can see, he really got at it in the front. Tore out all those nasty old inner aprons. Patched the hold in the shock tower. He even salvaged the core support with some clever patchwork. Nice.

I've felt all along the toughest part was going to be the cowl, and as you can see he's taken care of that as well. Great progress!

We're still on target for getting it back this spring. And putting it all back together again...

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

I've been intrigued by the potential of 3D printing for a while now, so I thought I would take a chance and order some items for gaming from Shapeways. If you don't know what Shapeways is (shapeways.com), it's basically a conduit for designers to have their products printed. People out there with more talent than me come up with the designs, house them in "shops" on the Shapeways site. Then when folks like me place an order, Shapeways prints and ships it, with both designer and Shapeways getting a cut of my money. Oh, and there are various print material options, from plastic to metal. The metal can get pricey, though, which sort of offsets the practicality, IMO. Great idea. Wish I had thought of it!

Overall, I was impressed with the service and the quality of what I received. Despite their light weight, all are remarkably sturdy and I foresee no problems using them in gaming. Best of all, they come in one piece - no assembly of fiddly biplanes! Anyway, here's a list of what I ordered, with comments:

The complete order

Ki-30 Anns

Vildebeests

SPAD XIII

Queen Elizabeth class BBs

1/285 Vildebeests from seller mpenneock: These are nothing short of spectacular. Can't say they will get used much, but I have some early Far East WWII scenarios in mind. I got two of them. The detail is great - I ordered them in "white strong & flexible." The radial engine is clear, and there is even a torpedo hanging from the bottom!

1/300 Ki-30 Ann from seller Dragoman: While a bit "rougher" than the Vildebeests, this is still a nice model of a rare aircraft and will fit in nicely with my China plans. A real bargain, as well - I intended to order three aircraft, instead I got three sprues of three aircraft each!

1/288 SPAD XIII from seller kampflieger - These are in frosted detail, I think, and very nice indeed. Very tiny! I'm debating about getting into WWI, so this was more of an experiment. I may end up going with a larger scale, but we'll see.

1/4800 Queen Elizabeth class BB from seller tinythingajigs - Matt_atknson has a great line of 1/4800 vessels that match up well with the CinC ones I have. There are three ships in this set, and all have distinctive traits. Very well done. Curiously, I also tried to order a Dunkerque class French ship, but Shapeways responded that it could not be printed as designed. May try that again...

In the end, I can see these being very useful indeed, and recommend you give them a look. There is a lot of neat stuff on there once you start poking around, including a lot of obscure stuff that may or may not ever get done in metal.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Yesterday I attended the Mid-Michigan Model Makers annual show and contest in Bay City. As usual, it was a cold, windy and snowy day, but I made it without mishap.

I gave serious consideration to entering my HMS Trafalgar, but in the end I did not. Mostly I just don't like hanging around all afternoon waiting for the judging. I go, look at the cool stuff, buy a few things and leave. The ship entry area was once again small, with a large-scale Skipjack, a runabout and a German E-boat. That was it.

There was a surprising (to me, anyway) number of figures entered, like Batman, Spiderman and such. Also a fair amount of fictional space vehicles, including a nice set of three generations of BSG Vipers. Only one space shuttle, though. I need to get going on my space stuff...

A lot of nice aircraft, tanks and cars. Not many race cars, though, and no NASCAR, which surprised me.

As for purchases, I got a nice old pack of three Airfix WWI planes - a Sopwith Pup, Bristol F2B and a DIII Albatros. On the car side, I picked up a Moebius Fabulous Hudson Hornet, which has become hard to find, as well as a Polar Lights Petty Torino Talladega (also hard to find now) and an old Monogram Regal. Can't have too many of those.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

As indicated in the last post, I am Scottish. Well, mostly. Well, I suppose not even mostly, when it comes down to it. There's also Irish, English, quite a bit of French actually, a touch of German and even a wee bit of Polish. Or Prussian? Wherever the border was at the time, I suppose. Even some Native American, if family stories are to be believed. (That French part became French Canadian, so...) But the name starts with Mac, so we're going with Scottish. Western highlands, to be more specific. Gaelic in origin, derived from Irish and Norse.

What I'm getting at is an interesting component of gaming is to examine family history through the lens of historical events. My guess is all of us know of ancestors involved in military activity. My grandpa was at Normandy. His dad in WWI. A great-great-grandfather was in the New York Heavy Artillery in the ACW. Going farther back, one finds some Loyalists and even some Hessians during the AWI period. Oops! Maybe I didn't need to know that... And some settlers in New York ambushed by Indians in the FIW timeframe before that.

Beyond that, it gets hazy, but it's not outside the realm of believability that the family was represented in the '45, certainly the clan was there. Whether any direct ancestors were or not is unproven. Perhaps some were caught up with William Wallace, or Robert the Bruce. Maybe a few had to fight off Viking raiders. If so, they were made of sterner stuff than me!
Which leads to... wait for it... Saga! Yes, I took the plunge, and the rules arrived last night. A quick read leads me to believe they are going to live up to the hype. Not only does this give me a chance to run around and shout Scottish fightin' words, it finally gives those Dark Age minis I painted about 15 years ago something to do at last!

I think I have enough Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Picts/Scots to put together some 4-point forces, or reasonable facsimiles thereof. I have already ordered some more to fill in some holes, and some Normans to get that faction started. I really think I'd like to focus on some Scots, or better yet, some Gaels. Maybe an order to Crusader???

Friday, January 25, 2013

If you haven't figured out by now, I am of Scottish heritage. And proud of it. My wife, who is mostly Finnish, doesn't always get it, but I subscribe to the notion that "A Scot is a Scot, even unto a hundred generations." (OK, I stole that from an online store, but it's cool, no?)

And today being Robert Burns day, I am keeping myself going with thoughts of a wee dram (or two) of the good stuff when I get home tonight. Haggis would be great too, but my wife wrinkled her nose at that suggestion this morning.

Instead, I'm listening to pipes, watching the snow come down, and just getting through the work day. And getting inspired for, if not the '45 or even Bannockburn, but some dark ages Saga gaming! (Can you tell I also just watched the BBC History of Scotland episode 1?) My clan came from the west side, so how about some Gaels!? (Oh, and for the record, they were Jacobites as well.)

And yes, I did order Saga. Too shiny to let that go by. Like I need another game. But that's how it works, right? I already have a bunch of Saxons and Vikings and even some Picts/Irish painted up from years ago. Time to put them to use.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

One of the many topics included in this blog is rocketry and space exploration, and I thought this was one of the coolest things I have heard of in a while. Seems the rocket scientists at NASA are taking a page from their past and taking a closer look at the old F-1 engine as they develop new engines for a new generation of lift vehicles.

The F-1. As in the engine that powered the Saturn V rockets. You know, the ones that went to the moon. The moon! The most powerful engines ever built. And they were built with 1960s technology. Of course, I have a fondness for 1960s technology anyway (see also, the never ending '65 Mustang project), but this seems almost too cool. OK, so actually it was only part of the engine that was tested, the gas generator to be specific, but it's good to see these young whipper snappers look to the old timers for inspiration.

Some of you may recall I visited the Marshall Space Center last year. The Saturn V is a big beast.

And for the record, specialist Kate Estes has got to have the absolute coolest last name at NASA. Get it?

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

We were talking about Google analytics at work, and I was showing someone the analytics for this blog as an example. Which got me wondering about some of my global visitors.

The vast majority are from the United States. No surprise there. Some come for the Indy car model content, some for the gaming content, some for who knows why. But being based in Michigan, I would expect most of my readers would be stateside.

I have to admit, though, that #2 surprised me a bit. Certainly I have multiple posts on Russo-Finnish miniatures and games, but I didn't think that would necessarily attract that much interest from Russia itself! If you're visiting from Russia, please let me know! And only two from Finland? My wife's ancestors are Finnish, so I hope you feel welcome!

Back to #3. China. I have a few posts now about Chinese aircraft in the Sino-Japanese War. Maybe that was enough to attract attention? There's certainly a lot more Japanese subject matter here, and no one from Japan has stopped by. Hmm.

Canada, UK and Australia at #4, #5 and #6. I know I have some regulars from the UK, and that's great. A bastion for gaming - and motorsports - if there ever was one. And Australia, how can you not love Australia? Look for more Aussie content soon with some RAAF P-40s possibly hitting the bench soon.

Germany, Indonesia and Poland. Huh. There is some mention of Germans here, so I guess it's not surprising someone there landed here. I wonder what grabbed the attention of anyone in Indonesia or Poland? I'd like to know.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Another good Spartacon has come and gone. I think I made it down in record time - no snow or ice this year! With record high temps in the upper 50s, it was a great day in downtown Lansing.

As for the con, the first thing to note was a new room, across the hall from the usual venue. This one is MUCH nicer. There was even carpet! And some lounge chairs. And no headache inducing echoes. So major plus there.

I started the day joining one of my long-time gaming colleagues in an ACW game using Regimental Fire and Fury. The scenario was a portion of the Battle of Atlanta. The minis were incredibly well painted, especially for just 6 mm (!) and the terrain very well done. The setup was very well organized, with all units, terrain, etc. labeled. It's just that none of us were familiar with the rules, and it was a bit overwhelming at first. In the final analysis, I'd say I like the rules and they show great promise, and I'd like to try them again, but I have so many other irons in the fire at the moment the ACW stuff will have to wait. As for the outcome, I was on the Confederate side. It was basically a straight ahead assault on the Union positions that more closely resembled the Somme. My buddy, already notorious for unlucky dice (I know, every gamer claims to be, but this guy is a sight to behold), was in for a rough day. The Union player directly opposite him kept rolling 10 after 10 after 10 (good in this game), while he kept rolling 1, 2, 3, etc. Unreal.

So on to game two. The plan was to join Dave Winfree from I-94 Enterprises in a CY6 game, but we were a little late getting back from lunch. Dave is a good guy and was more than willing to accomodate, but we had enough extra players that in the end we went off and played a side game using the planes I had stashed in the car. We combined two of my Pearl Harbor scenarios into one and had a nice four player game. Once again, the dice were against us! It got kind of comical after a while: Need a 9 to hit, roll an 8. Need an 11, roll a 10. Need a 6, roll a 5. It was crazy. In the end, the American shot down two Kates, but one P-40 was out of ammo and skedaddled, and the other Americans were square in the sights of the Zeroes before we ran out of time. I think they enjoyed it.

As for purchases, of course I left my list at home! But I ended up
getting the Road to Rabaul scenario book, some new flight stands, and a
nice assortment of new planes and decals from I-94. If you are into CY6,
I highly recommend I-94.

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About Me

So much to do, so little time. After being inspired by others, though, I thought it's time to share some of my hobby activities with whomever may be interested. This blog will cover everything from vintage car restoration to making my own beer, with a big focus on model building and miniature painting. I'm a copywriter for a B2B agency, working mostly on automotive supplier materials. I'm married with twin little girls, who take up a lot of my time but are a lot of fun and are already showing an interest in dad's toys.